Well-known actor Nana Patekar will get the ‘Godavari Gaurav’ award, instituted by city-based ‘Kusumagraj Prathishthan’. The other awardees include dancer Kanak Rele, Chetana Sinha, Dr Shashi Kumar Chitre, Dr Balkrishna Joshi and endurance cyclists Hitendra and Mahendra Mahajan for their contribution in various fields.

The award carries a prize of Rs 21,000 and a memento. The awards will be presented by Marathi writer Madhu Mangesh Karnik on March 10 – the death anniversary of well-known poet and writer V V Shirwadkar, who was popularly known as ‘Kusumagraj’.

Sinha has worked in drought areas and formed a women co-operative bank while Doshi is an famous architect. Chitre is a mathematician and astrophysicist, known for his research in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

 Nana Patekar 

• In September 2015, Nana Patekar established an organisation, Naam Foundation with fellow Marathi actor Makar and Anaspure, which works to provide aid to farmers to overcome by drought conditions in Maharashtra, India.
• The foundation works for betterment of farmers in the drought-prone areas of Marathawada and Vidarbha in the state of Maharashtra, India.
• The help is monetary and in-kind. In addition to the monetary help, the foundation is working on planting 1 crore trees, training and guidance to the farmers, farming centers, employment centers etc.